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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

The Truth About Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotanka)

The Truth About Sitting
Bull (TatankaIyotanka)

By
SarahJ.McNeal

When I researched to
find something interesting for my article on Sweethearts of the West blog, I
ran into some fascinating information about Sitting Bull. I know, like many
modern day people, I only know that Sitting Bull was a Lakota chief and that
he’s famous for his resistance to white men taking Native American lands. What I didn’t know was his sense of justice
and his undaunted and courageous spirit.

After fighting battle
after battle to keep the white men from taking Lakota lands, the government
asked Sitting Bull to make a speech when the golden spike would be placed in
the Northern Pacific Railroad tying the east coast to the west. Amazingly,
Sitting Bull agreed to make the speech. An Indian agent who knew Lakota wrote
the speech for Sitting Bull. So, on September 8, 1883, amid applause and a
standing ovation, Sitting Bull made his speech. He smiled and bowed throughout
allowing time for cheers and applause, but what no one knew except the Indian
agent who ghost wrote the speech, was that Sitting Bull gave his own address
and it was nothing like the scripted speech he was suppose to have given. In
part, this is what Sitting Bull said:

“I hate all White people,” he said. “You are thieves and liars. You have
taken away our land and made us outcasts.” He went on to describe the terrible attrocities that white men had done
to his people, their corruption and dishonesty . All the while, as he delivered
his speech, he looked directly at the Secretary of State, Ulysses S. Grant, the
governors and the bankers. On that day, with his speech, Sitting Bull made the
white men into fools.

The Lakota knew Sitting Bull as a kind, generous
and self-sacrificing man for the sake of his family and his people. I found something
he said that speaks of his intelligence and his fondness and hope for the next
generation of people. "A child
is the greatest gift from Wakan Tanka (Great Mystery), in response to many
devout prayers, sacrifices and promises". Another quote about the next
generation by Sitting Bull is, "Let us put our minds together and see what
kind of life we can make for our children.”

It’s hard to believe, but Sitting Bull participated in Buffalo Bill
Cody’s Wild West Show for a few months. He would dress in full Lakota regalia
and ride around the ring once to boos and shouts of distain. Although I know
it’s true, I still cannot imagine such a proud man would exploit himself in
such a way.

In the end, it was a Lakota’s bullet that killed Sitting Bull.

The Ghost Dance movement made the whites anxious and suspicious. It predicted a messiah would rise up in the
Indian nations and defeat the white men. The unrest escalated and authorities
felt that Sitting Bull (Lakota name: TatankaIyotanka)
would join the movement and create a powerful resistance. Major JamesMcLaughlin sent 43 Lakota tribal
policemen and soldiers to arrest the chief. On December 15, 1890, the policemen
surrounded TatankaIyotanka’s cabin and dragged him
out. As his supporters objected to this treatment, a gunfight broke out in
which Tatanka Iyotanka and twelve others were killed including his son, Crowfoot
and his Assiniboine adopted brother, Jumping Bull all murdered by the Lakota
police. Six policemen were also killed. A Lakota policeman shot TatankaIyotanka
in the head.

Sitting Bull was buried at Fort Yates, North Dakota. Another controversy
follows his burial. The Lakota refer to sitting Bull as Grandfather
TatankaIyotanka
and the following is a quote:

As a sort of
bizarre footnote to Grandfather TatankaIyotanka’s momentous life, today
the states of South Dakota and North Dakota each claim to have possession of
his body! North Dakota claims that Grandfather TatankaIyotanka’s
remains lie at Fort Yates, where he was shot down and killed! But South
Dakota admits that in 1953, they stole Grandfather’s body, hauled it to South
Dakota, to an isolated grave west of Mobridge, South Dakota; reburied his remains, where a granite shaft
marks his grave. This gravesite is controversial since he was originally buried
in Fort Yates, ND, exhumed and buried in massive amounts of concrete. Some
believe that the body exhumed was not that of TatankaIyotanka.

TatankaIyotanka was an extraordinary man. In his epic battle for the rights of his
people, he had served them for 59 years. He was, without a doubt, one of the
greatest Lakota leaders ever. The Lakota mourned him as well he deserved. He is
remembered as an inspirational leader, fearless warrior, loving father, gifted
singer; a man always affable and friendly toward others, whose deep religious
faith gave him prophetic insight and lent special power to his prayers.

Many whites
heaped scorn upon his memory because he had stood in their way for so many
years. But Grandfather TatankaIyotanka had not lived his life to
please “wasichu”. Rather he had lived to serve his people, the Lakota Nation,
in whose bosom his memory is sacred. His death is a grim story of false arrest,
when there was no one to defend the Native American; his name should never be
forgotten. Upon the death of their leaders, the Sioux tribes ceased their
struggle against the white man.

Some believe that Sitting Bull was assassinated by the U.S. Government
and that the use of Lakota policemen legitimized the assault on the Lakota
Chief. All of this contrived to cover up the theft of Indian lands and the
riches found there by Indian agents and U.S. officials. To the Lakota, TatankaIyotanka
was a chief and spiritual leader worthy of great respect for his fight to save
his people much like Marin Luther King.

If you would like to know more about Sitting Bull/Tatanka Iyotanka, I
found much information from the following sites:

23 comments:

Great post. I read a great anecdote about Sitting Bull while he was with the Wild West Show. He was in NY and had walked by the river, where he found several starving and hungry children who lived on the streets. In that moment, he decided to go home. He scorned a rich society that would allow its children to live that way. I don't know if it's true, but it was a beautiful story and I wish I could remember where I saw it so I could reread it.

Caroline, I loved your story about Sitting Bull. after doing all this research on him, I rather tend to believe that it's true. He was a gentle and intelligent man but I always thought he just wanted to kill white men.Thank you so much for coming by and leaving a comment.

Sarah--I can't say any of this was a surprise, because I knew very little about him in the first place. I don't doubt any of it, except like you, I wonder..first, why such a proud man would stoop that low, and second, if he hated the white man so much, why would he agree to be in the Wild West Show. That part is very difficult to understand.So, I enjoyed learning about Sitting Bull I never knew. For example, I didn't know how he died, and that also makes you wonder. I read Caroline's comment about Sitting Bull seeing the hungry children on the streets and scorning a rich society for letting that happen. I feel like that today--why does even one child in America go hungry or be tossed aside like a piece of garbage. It happens in every society. Except I have always believed the Native Americans in "the old days" took care of all children. In their view, the village was responsible--and so, it does take a village to raise a child.Thanks for this post. It's very thoughtful and thought-provoking.

All the Native American leaders held great regard for their people. It was ingrained in them from infancy to think of the group as a whole. And to always put their children and elderly first. Those are only a couple of the many things I admire about the Native American people. Great post!

I have to agree with you, Celia, it is amazing how different the values of American society are from those of the Native American in Sitting Bull's day. They shared everything, including responsibility for the children of their village. Now it seems no one cares about anyone else--just themselves.I would love to learn why Sitting Bull decided to join Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. It just doesn't seem in character with his beliefs. Thank you so much for your comments, Celia. I'm very happy that you came by.

Thank you for that positive comment about Native Americans, Paty. They are a proud and intelligent people who knew how to honor the Earth. I guess you could say that they were the first "green" people.Thanks again for taking the time to come by and leave a comment, Paty.

Charlene, I'm glad I was ab;e to dig up some factoids that you hadn't heard before. I was surprised at some of the things I learned when I researched, too. Thank you so much for coming by and leaving a comment.

Thank you for that compliment, Cheryl. I wanted my forst real blog here to be something good. I researched like crazy to find some unusual facts about Sitting Bull. There was so much I didn't know. Thank you for coming by and I wish you great success with the first book in the Fire Creek series.

I loved your post. My hero in the next of my books to be released has a blood brother and best friend that is a Sioux. I love the history I discovered while preparing for this story years ago and tried to bring some of it into the story. They have great customs and honor.

Paisley, I know what you mean about enjoying the history of the Native Americans. I first started researching the Lakota tribes when I wrote For Love of Banjo. He's half Lakota. Thank you so much for your kind comment.